These haunting photos show how a mudslide has wrought destruction on a now devastated Californian town.
At least 18 people are known to have died in Tuesday’s deadly and destructive mudslide in Montecito while seven people are still missing.
Chilling footage shows 'child being placed into storm drain after false missile alert'
Authorities have urged the public to help as crews continued their search for the missing today, while more than 1,200 workers are taking part in the search and cleanup effort.
The Santa Barbara County Sheriff’s Office issued a plea for information but acknowledged that finding anyone alive would be a ‘miracle’.
‘The missing persons were reported by family and friends, and resided in areas that were heavily damaged during the storm and subsequent mudslides,’ the sheriff’s office said.
Bulldozers cleared roads of tangled trees, muck and boulders while tanker trucks were being used to haul off floodwaters sucked up from U.S. Highway 101.
The disaster struck on Tuesday after heavy rains soaked the area north of Los Angeles, where vegetation had been destroyed by the largest wildfire in California’s history.
Sodden hillsides gave way, unleashing a torrent of mud, water, uprooted trees and boulders onto the valley below and causing what the police described as ‘traumatic injuries’ to the victims, who ranged in age from three to 89.
The destruction covered 30 square miles and more than 2,100 personnel from local, state and federal agencies, including the U.S. Coast Guard, the U.S. Navy and the American Red Cross are involved in ‘challenging’ search, recovery and relief efforts.
A crew found the body of the 18th victim, Joseph Bleckel, 87, before noon in his home near Romero Canyon in the first death discovered since Wednesday.
The seven missing people included Fabiola Benitez, the mother of Jonathan Benitez, a 10-year-old killed in the flooding.
Benitez lived with her sister-in-law, Marilyn Ramos, 27, who was asleep with her daughter, Kaelly, three, when mud crashed through their Montecito rental home, carrying both to their deaths.
Ramos’ sister Jennifer said: ‘My sister was such a good person, she only thought of others to the point that she would cry with you when you were hurt or sick.’
MORE: Guardsman, 29, missing from central London barracks
MORE: Sex attacker jailed after raping girl, 14, and warning her ‘not to tell anyone’
[contf] [contfnew] 
METRO
[contfnewc] [contfnewc]
